Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

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Bruce was born on the 18th of January 1921 in Keswick, South Australia where he grew up. He had a wife and five children, four girls and one boy. He went to Adelaide High School for his education and then attended SA Technical College, to get his degree in engineering. He also went to the Adelaide School of Mines. He then went to the Navy for one and a half years after getting his degree in Engineering. He was 22 when he enlisted to join WWII. He was average height and had an average build with dark blonde hair.

He enlisted for the war in Adelaide on the 17th of July 1943 and joined flight squadron 457. He first travelled to Darwin and around the Northern Territory before being deployed to Morotai in Indonesia and then to Labuan in Malaysia. Squadron 457 was a submarine spitfire group that protected Northern Australia from the Japanese military.

He first embarked to the Northern Territory where he served in three different places called 54 Mile, Darwin (the main city) and Sattler. He was then disembarked to Morotai in Indonesia and then moved to Labuan, Malaysia. These places are all hot and humid tropical places located near the sea. Labuan and Morotai are both small islands off the coast of Asia. Alongside squadron 457, the battles of Labuan and Morotai involved Australian 9th Division troops and 7 other RAAF squadrons. Also some support from the US 31st infantry division and allied naval forces. 

Bruce was not injured in the war and returned safely back to his original life. He was involved in the defence of Darwin and the Northern Territory until the squadron was moved to Morotai to help support offences in the Netherlands, West Indies and Borneo. As part of squadron 457, he left Australia on the 8th of February 1945 and was flying for around two days to reach Morotai, Indonesia. During his service he was a part of many different operations including 16 strikes or attacks and 16 other operations. He received 5 promotions including Aircraftman Second Class on 17/7/1943, then to Leading Aircraftman on 9/10/1943, then to Sergeant on 4/6/1944, then to Flight Sergeant on 4/12/1944, and finally to a Warrant Officer on 4/12/1945. He received lots of different awards including a Star, a Pacific Star, an Australian Service Medal, a Returned From Service Badge, and a Flying badge. He returned to Australia on the 15th of January 1946, due to demobilisation, which means he stepped down from the armed forces and combat-ready status.

Bruce returned home safely and arrived back in Adelaide in late January. After the war, he returned to his job as an engineer. He was involved in the community as in the 1970s he was part of a parliament group in South Australia. He passed away due to dementia in Adelaide on the 22nd of December 2007.

Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Service Record – National Archives of Australia (NAA)
Australian War Memorial (AWM) – Nominal and Embarkation Rolls, Honours and Awards Database
Veterans’ War Memorial Australia (VWMA) – Service information and biography
Family

Secondary Sources:
Spitfire Association – History of No. 457 Squadron RAAF